Bioethanol: Can a car engine meet my needs?

[pifpaf]

I live in Brazil and I am about to make my bioethanol from sugar cane.

I would like to become energetically independent and install a car engine as a generator. It would "run" on alcohol of course and produce my electricity.

An alcohol motor works like a normal engine. Moreover here we transform the gasoline cars (injection) into flexfuel cars with a small kit.

My electricity bill tells me that I currently consume an average of 13kw per day. The showers are electric and there is no heating. I would like to be able to use electric heaters or perhaps (but it seems to me an expensive solution to install) to recover the heat of the water of the radiator of the engine.

So to 13kw we add, go, 18kw of electric heating (2 heaters of 750w during 12h) in winter, which are replaced in summer by the same conso via the airco.

So I would like to know if a car engine of say 1000cc can provide 31 kw a day and how would it work?

Someone has examples of installations? The goal is to produce electricity.

[elephant]

There is a problem: burning alcohol, was it bio is burning a natural product that produces CO2.
The very first thing would be to heat your hot water in the sun, right? It seems that there is more than here at home.

[pifpaf]

The sun is there but not enough in winter when it is cold.

So my question remains.

[aerialcastor]

My electricity bill tells me that I consume an average of 13kw per day currently

Already you confuse power and energy. The power is measured in W and the energy is measured in Wh. There I guess you talk about energy so 13kWh a day. But you should know the maximum power of heat you need.
Then it is completely stupid (in terms of performance) to burn alcohol to run an engine that will rotate an alternator that will give you electricity. Especially that a car engine has a mechanical efficiency of the order of 30%, can be a little better in steady state. Basically if you put 100kWh alcohol in your engine you can recover that 30kWh of mechanical energy all the rest is heat (70kWh).
So already we should rather consider the recovery of electricity for noble use (TV, computer, ....) and try to recover the heat to heat. But there it is likely to be complicated on a car engine is better to see the side of the stirlings.
Otherwise the solar works well it's simple, it works in Germany so in Brazil there is no pb just have a big buffer tank.
And what works even better, effective summer and winter, which never breaks down and does not require any running costs is insulation.

[elephant]

+1

[pifpaf]

My electricity bill tells me that I consume an average of 13kw per day currently

Already you confuse power and energy. The power is measured in W and the energy is measured in Wh. There I guess you talk about energy so 13kWh a day. But you should know the maximum power of heat you need.
Then it is completely stupid (in terms of performance) to burn alcohol to run an engine that will rotate an alternator that will give you electricity. Especially that a car engine has a mechanical efficiency of the order of 30%, can be a little better in steady state. Basically if you put 100kWh alcohol in your engine you can recover that 30kWh of mechanical energy all the rest is heat (70kWh).
So already we should rather consider the recovery of electricity for noble use (TV, computer, ....) and try to recover the heat to heat. But there it is likely to be complicated on a car engine is better to see the side of the stirlings.
Otherwise the solar works well it's simple, it works in Germany so in Brazil there is no pb just have a big buffer tank.
And what works even better, effective summer and winter, which never breaks down and does not require any running costs is insulation.

The insulation is good when you live in Europe. Here rock wool is imported and therefore overpriced.

The solar water heater in Germany I ask to see. I would not want to take a bath at home in October for example.

Ok. Well, as I produce my ethanol myself, I'm not too concerned about performance. 1 hectare of cane gives 8000 liters of ethanol. This equates to 5600litres of normal gasoline when talking about automobile consumption.

But this info on 70% heat production from the engine makes me conclude that it would be better to find a boiler that would run on alcohol. And continue on the network.

However, I would like to use this engine / alternator system as it is directly installable and the electrical devices just plug them in. While a boiler installation forces me to build a new house because there is no planned heating system in the houses here. Not a gram of copper in my walls.

The maximum heating power needed I would say 7kw / h when a shower 4500w + 2 heaters 750w + everything else works at the same time.

How to best use my ethanol if not with an engine ???

[the boulle]

an electrogenic group modify me better .....

less DIY to make

you can mount a special exhaust (a water) that recovers calories because it seems to me that 50% of heat loss partes here ....

for hot water su mounts a boiler water / water

you will win overall rendeman but hey ... this is not the top
*

moreover it will be necessary to do a frequent maintenance (emptying ...)

[pifpaf]

an electrogenic group modify me better .....

less DIY to make

you can mount a special exhaust (a water) that recovers calories because it seems to me that 50% of heat loss partes here ....

for hot water su mounts a boiler water / water

you will win overall rendeman but hey ... this is not the top
*

moreover it will be necessary to do a frequent maintenance (emptying ...)

Your answer is the least "beautiful theories" and the most effective. I thank you. Can you explain to me what the special water exhaust is?

[elephant]

There is something 2 I would like to know

- you say it's "cold" in winter: at what altitude and at what latitude are you?
- 13 KWh / 24 h: already, with us the consumption of domestic hot water represents 9 to 10 KWh / 24h: have you already evaluated yours?

[the boulle]

Good evening

in fact to recover the calories lost in the exhaust must be made a gas / water heat exchanger

the simplest is to take a tube diameter 200mm 1000mm long and to bend a coil of copper tube that is inserted into the tube


in the coil circulate the exhaust gas and into the water tube; the exhaust gases go this cool to the contact of the water circulating around the coil

the set finishes and waterproof gives 1entered cold water and a hot water outlet then a hot gas inlet and a cold gas outlet

mount the muffler after the heat exchanger so you do not lose calories